2021 in British music

This is a summary of the year 2021 in British music.

Events

 * 11 January – The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) announces that Sir Simon Rattle is to stand down as its music director in 2023, and is scheduled subsequently to take the title of LSO conductor emeritus for life.
 * 21 January – The Glastonbury Festival announces the cancellation of its scheduled 2021 Festival, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 * 22 January – The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra announces that Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla is to conclude her tenure as its music director after the 2021–2022 season, and subsequently to take on the post of principal guest conductor.
 * 27 January – PRS for Music institutes its new "Online Live Concert" licence fee, for ticketed small-scale live-streamed performances, at a scale of £22.50 plus VAT for events with revenue up to £250, regardless of whether the takings surpass £250, and a doubling of the fee for events that gross between £251 and £500.
 * 1 February – Following protests by musicians, PRS for Music announces an amendment to its new "Online Live Concert" licence fee scheme, whereby livestreamed events that produce less than £500 revenue are newly to be covered by a free licence, on the condition that artists exclusively perform their own works.
 * 5 February – The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival announces Isata Kanneh-Mason as the recipient of its Leonard Bernstein Award for 2021.
 * 18 February – The City of London Corporation announces the cancellation of plans for the intended Centre for Music, with scheduled renovations of the Barbican Centre to occur instead.
 * 1 March – The Download Festival announces cancellation of its 2021 festival season, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 * 2 March – The Isle of Wight Festival announces the re-scheduling of its 2021 festival season from 17–20 June 2021 to 16–19 September 2021.
 * 9 March – Winston Marshall announces that he is taking indefinite leave of absence from Mumford & Sons, following criticism of his Tweet in praise of Andy Ngo's book Unmasked.
 * 12 March – The Association of British Orchestras announces its 2021 ABO Awards at its 2021 conference:
 * ABO Award: The Musicians
 * Classical Music Artist Manager of the Year: Moema Parrott
 * Classical Music Concert Hall Manager of the Year: John Gilhooly
 * Orchestra Manager of the Year: Crispin Woodhead
 * Commendation: Greg Felton
 * ABO Special Award: John Summers and Timothy Walker
 * 16 March – Royal Northern Sinfonia announces the appointment of Dinis Sousa as its next principal conductor, effective September 2021.
 * 18 March – The BBC announces that the leadership team of BBC Radio 3 is to relocate to Salford, along with relocation of select Radio 6 staff.
 * 30 March
 * The London Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Sir Antonio Pappano as its next chief conductor, effective in September 2024.
 * The Royal Opera announces that Sir Antonio Pappano is to conclude his tenure as ROH music director at the close of the 2023-2024 season.
 * 7 April – Southbank Sinfonia and St John's Smith Square mutually announce their merger into a single charity and organisation, Southbank Sinfonia at St John's Smith Square.
 * 8 April – The London Philharmonic Orchestra announces the appointment of Elena Dubinets as its next artistic director, effective September 2021, following the departure of Cristina Rocca from the post.
 * 13 April – English Touring Opera announces the appointment of Gerry Cornelius as its next music director, with immediate effect.
 * 30 April – At Bramley-Moore Dock, Liverpool, 3000 clubbers participate in an Events Research Programme test event headlined by DJ Jayda G, without social distancing or required mask-wearing, as part of a scientific study on coronavirus transmission at mass events.
 * 2 May
 * The BBC announces percussionist Fang Zhang as the BBC Young Musician 2020.
 * At Sefton Park, Liverpool, 5000 attendees attend a live concert with performances by Zuzu and by Blossoms, in an Events Research Programme test event, without social distancing or required mask-wearing, as part of a scientific study on coronavirus transmission at mass events, the largest such UK music gathering since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 * 12 June – Queen's Birthday Honours List 2021:
 * Imogen Cooper is made a Dame Commander of the British Empire.
 * Ram John Holder, Lulu, and Rick Wakeman are each made an Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
 * Eleanor Alberga, Julian Lloyd Webber, Alan Parsons, Skin (Deborah Anne Dyer), John Summers, and Michael Volpe are each made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
 * Jess Gillam, Dennis Bovell, Engelbert Humperdinck, Alison Moyet, Huw Watkins, and Sarah Willis are each made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
 * Alan Hawkshaw and Jeremy Huw Williams are each awarded the British Empire Medal.
 * 18 June – The Download Pilot Festival begins in Donington Park in Leicestershire, a 3-day pilot test event without mask or social distance requirements for attendees.
 * 24 June – Winston Marshall announces that he is leaving Mumford & Sons, following controversy over him praising right-wing journalist Andy Ngo.
 * 4 August – The BBC announces the appointment of Bill Chandler as the new Director of the BBC Concert Orchestra, effective 4 September 2021.
 * 10 August – The BBC announces the appointment of Suzy Klein as its new Head of Arts and Classical Music TV, effective 4 October 2021.
 * 14 August – Simon Gallup announces that he has left The Cure, citing "betrayal" as his reasons for leaving. Gallup soon deleted his post, and confirmed on 14 October that he was still in the band.
 * 17 August – Alan Leach and Joe Johnson announce that they will be leaving Shed Seven after fulfilling their touring commitments with the band in the Summer.
 * 23 August – John Lydon loses a legal case, to prevent former Sex Pistols bandmates Steve Jones and Paul Cook from allowing the use of their songs in a television biopic based on the band.
 * 5 September – The Sinfonia of London, in its newest incarnation, performs its first live concert at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the 2021 season of The Proms, conducted by John Wilson.
 * 14 September – The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Kazuki Yamada as its next chief conductor and artistic advisor, the first Asian conductor ever named to the posts, effective 1 April 2023, with an initial contract of 4.5 years.
 * 18 September – The 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition announces its prize winners:
 * First prize: Alim Beisembayev
 * Second prize: Kaito Kabayashi
 * Third prize: Ariel Lanyi
 * Fourth prize: Dmytro Choni
 * Fifth prize: Thomas Kelly
 * 15 October – The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge announces its intention to admit female singers to the choir for the first time in its history, effective in 2022.
 * 17 October – The London Handel Festival announces the appointment of Gregory Batsleer as its next festival director, with immediate effect.
 * 25 October – The London Mozart Players announce the appointment of Flynn LeBrocq as its new chief executive, effective January 2022.
 * 1 November – The Royal Philharmonic Society announces the recipients of the 2021 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards:
 * Chamber-Scale Composition: Laura Bowler – Wicked Problems
 * Conductor: Ryan Bancroft
 * Ensemble: Dunedin Consort
 * Gamechanger: Bold Tendencies
 * Impact: ENO Breathe
 * Inspiration: Hilary Campbell and Bristol Choral Society
 * Instrumentalist: Nicola Benedetti
 * Large-Scale Composition: Dani Howard - Trombone Concerto
 * Opera & Music Theatre: L'enfant et les sortilèges - Vopera
 * Series & Events: 'The World How Wide' - Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia
 * Singer: Jennifer Johnston
 * Storytelling: Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason - House of Music 
 * Young Artist: The Hermes Experiment
 * 18 November – Sir Roger Norrington conducts his self-proclaimed final classical concert, with the Royal Northern Sinfonia at The Sage, Gateshead.
 * 4 December – The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival announces Hannah Kendall as the recipient of its Hindemith Prize 2022.
 * 8 December – The Ivors Composer Awards announces its 2021 recipients:
 * Impact Award – Zoe Rahman
 * Visionary Award – Sarah Angliss
 * Innovation Award – Cleveland Watkiss
 * Jazz Composition – Nikki Iles: The Caged Bird
 * Large-Scale Composition – Anna Þorvaldsdóttir: Catamorphosis
 * Outstanding Works Collection – Alexander Goehr
 * Small Chamber Composition – Alex Paxton: Sometimes Voices
 * Solo Composition – Martin Iddon: Lampades
 * Sound Art – Caroline Kraabel: London 26 And 28 March 2020: Imitation: Inversion
 * Vocal and Choral Composition – Thomas Adès: Gyökér (Root)
 * 31 December – 2022 New Year Honours:
 * John Gilhooly is made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
 * Alpesh Chauhan, Steven Osborne, and Mark Pemberton are each made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
 * Michael Asante, Peter Broadbent, Andrew Carwood, Sydney Harris, and Berendina Norton are each made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
 * Nikki Iles and Mark Strachan are each awarded the British Empire Medal.

Bands formed

 * Flo

Bands reformed

 * Altered Images
 * The Boo Radleys
 * Electrasy
 * Faces
 * Hundred Reasons
 * The Wanted

Classical works

 * Thomas Adès
 * Shanty – Over the Sea
 * Alchymia (clarinet quintet)
 * Sir George Benjamin – Concerto for Orchestra
 * Charlotte Bray – When Icebergs Dance Away
 * Jay Capperauld – Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death
 * Tom Coult – Pleasure Garden
 * Jonathan Dove – In Exile
 * Bryn Harrison - A Coiled Form
 * Simon Holt – Cloud Shadow
 * Hannah Kendall
 * Rosalind (text Sabrina Mahfouz) –
 * Where is the chariot of fire?
 * Daniel Kidane - Revel
 * Natalie Klouda – Nightscapes 2020
 * Cecilia McDowall – There is no rose
 * Sir James MacMillan – When Soft Voices Die
 * Grace-Evangeline Mason – The Imagined Forest
 * Colin Matthews – Seascapes (texts by Sidney Keyes)
 * Adam Pounds – Symphony No 3
 * Rebecca Saunders (music) and Ed Atkins (text) – Us Dead Talk Love
 * Jack Sheen – Hollow propranolol séance
 * Mark Simpson – Violin Concerto
 * Sir John Tavener – La Noche Oscura (completed in 2012, premiered 25 June 2021)
 * Mark-Anthony Turnage
 * Owl Songs
 * Up for Grabs
 * Errollyn Wallen – Sojourner Truth
 * Kate Whitley (music) and Laura Attridge (text) – Our Future in Your Hands

Opera

 * Samantha Ferrando and Melanie Wilson – Current, Rising

Musical theatre

 * Fisherman's Friends: The Musical, with book by Amanda Whittington - ran from 13 to 30 October at the Cornwall Playhouse, Truro, starring Calum Callaghan and Susie Blake.
 * Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, with book by Lee Hall - opened on 21 October at the Lyric Theatre, London, starring Arinzé Kene as Bob Marley.

Film

 * Stefan Gregory – The Dig
 * Dominic Lewis – Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, directed by Will Gluck

Television

 * John Paesano  – Leonardo

British music awards

 * Brit Awards – see 2021 Brit Awards

Number-one singles
The singles chart includes a proportion for streaming.

Number-one albums
The albums chart includes a proportion for streaming.

Top singles of the year
This chart was published by the Official Charts Company on January 4, 2022

Best-selling albums
This chart was published by the Official Charts Company on January 4, 2022

Deaths

 * 3 January – Gerry Marsden, singer, musician (Gerry and the Pacemakers), 78
 * 5 January – John Georgiadis, orchestral violinist and leader, and conductor, 81
 * 6 January – Osian Ellis, classical harpist, 92
 * 10 January – Mark Keds, singer, musician (Senseless Things), 50
 * 29 January – Hilton Valentine, musician, guitarist (The Animals), 77
 * 30 January – Sophie, Scottish musician, producer, singer-songwriter, DJ, 34
 * 13 February – Sydney Devine, Scottish singer, entertainer, 81
 * 15 February – Steuart Bedford, conductor and specialist in the music of Benjamin Britten, 81
 * 22 February – Tony "Feedback" Morrison, musician, (Angelic Upstarts), 61, Covid-19
 * 2 March
 * Chris Barber, jazz trombonist and bandleader, 90
 * Anna Shuttleworth, classical cellist and pedagogue, 93
 * 4 March - Alan Cartwright, English bass musician, (Procol Harum), 75, stomach cancer
 * 20 March – Robert Gard, classical tenor resident in Australia, 90
 * 29 March – Elaine Hugh-Jones, classical composer, 93
 * 31 March
 * Jane Manning, classical soprano and advocate of contemporary music, 82
 * Valerie, Lady Solti, classical music philanthropist, former arts journalist, and widow of Sir Georg Solti, 83
 * 2 April – Simon Bainbridge, classical composer, 68
 * 20 April – Les McKeown, Scottish singer, (Bay City Rollers), 65.
 * 29 April - John Hinch, English drummer (Judas Priest), 73
 * 30 April – Anthony Payne, classical composer, 84
 * 4 May – Nick Kamen, singer, songwriter, and model, 59
 * 5 May – Ray Teret, disc jockey and convicted rapist, 79
 * 10 May – Pauline Tinsley, English opera singer, 93
 * 15 May – Emily Mair, Scottish-New Zealand opera singer, pianist and vocal coach, 92
 * 15 May – Fred Dellar, music journalist, 89
 * 20 May – Freddy Marks, television actor and musician (Rod, Jane and Freddy), 71
 * 23 June – Peter Zinovieff, engineer (EMS VCS 3) and composer, 88
 * 22 July – Peter Rehberg, Austrian-English electronic musician (KTL), heart attack, 53.
 * 3 August – Allan Stephenson, English-born South African composer, cellist, and conductor, 71.
 * 6 August – Les Vandyke, English singer and songwriter ("What Do You Want?", "Poor Me", "Well I Ask You"), 90.
 * 10 August – Stephen Wilkinson, English choral conductor and composer, 102.
 * 14 August – Hugh Wood, English composer, 89.
 * 20 August – Peter Ind, jazz double bassist and record producer, 93.
 * 22 August – Brian Travers, English saxophonist, (UB40), 62.
 * 24 August
 * Fritz McIntyre, English keyboardist (Simply Red), 62.
 * Charlie Watts, English drummer, (The Rolling Stones), 80.
 * 25 August – Dave Harper, English drummer, (Frankie & The Heartstrings).
 * 5 September – Sarah Harding, singer (Girls Aloud), model and actress, breast cancer, 39.
 * 8 September – Matthew Strachan, composer and singer-songwriter (Next Door's Baby), 50.
 * 9 September – Amanda Holden, musician, librettist (Bliss) and translator, 73.
 * 10 September – Michael Chapman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (True North), 80.
 * 15 September – Norman Bailey, British-born opera singer resident in the US, 88.
 * 20 September
 * Colin Bailey, English-born jazz drummer, 87.
 * Julz Sale, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Delta 5), cancer.
 * 21 September – Richard H. Kirk, English musician, composer, producer, (Cabaret Voltaire), 65.
 * 26 September – Alan Lancaster, English bassist, (Status Quo, The Party Boys), complications from multiple sclerosis, 72.
 * 28 September – Barry Ryan, English pop singer ("Eloise") and photographer, 72.
 * 30 September – Greg Gilbert, English singer, guitarist, (Delays), bowel cancer, 44.
 * 2 October – John Rossall, saxophonist, (The Glitter Band), cancer, 75.
 * 5 October – Pat Fish, musician, (The Jazz Butcher), 64.
 * 7 October – Rick Jones, Canadian-born television presenter (Play School, Fingerbobs) and musician (Meal Ticket), oesophageal cancer, 84.
 * 9 October – Jim Pembroke, English rock musician (Wigwam), 75.
 * 16 October – Alan Hawkshaw, composer, performer (Grange Hill), (Countdown), pneumonia, 84.
 * 19 October – Leslie Bricusse, English composer (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory), lyricist ("Goldfinger", "You Only Live Twice") and playwright, Oscar winner (1968, 1983), 90.
 * 21 October – Bernard Haitink, Dutch conductor active in the UK, 92
 * 27 October – Gay McIntyre, Northern Irish jazz musician, 88.
 * 29 October – Malcolm Dome, English music journalist (Record Mirror, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer), 66.
 * 31 October – Joan Carlyle, classical soprano, 90
 * 6 November
 * Terence "Astro" Wilson, English singer, musician, (UB40), 64.
 * Andrew Barker, bassist, keyboardist, (808 State), 53.
 * 11 November – Graeme Edge, English drummer, musician, (The Moody Blues), 80, metastatic cancer.
 * 21 November – Gordon Crosse, composer, 83
 * 30 November – Pamela Helen Stephen, classical mezzo-soprano, 57
 * 2 December – Richard Cole, English music manager (Led Zeppelin), 75.
 * 5 December – John Miles, English singer and musician ("Music"), 72.
 * 9 December – Steve Bronski, Scottish musician, (Bronski Beat), 61.
 * 10 December – Thomas "Mensi" Mensforth, English singer, (Angelic Upstarts), COVID-19, 65.
 * 13 December – Toby Slater, English singer, musician, (Catch (band)), 42
 * 17 December – John Morgan, English drummer (The Wurzels), COVID-19, 80.
 * 25 December – Janice Long, English radio DJ, presenter, 66.
 * 31 December – Graham Pauncefort, classical music recording executive and founder of the CRD label, 81